Monster VS Others

[Puma Man]

I've heard conflicting things about Monster cable. Some people claim that it's way over priced and that cheaper brands get better signal transfer. Yet people from the other side of the field say that Monster is better than those lower priced cables, and aren't too overpriced. Although, we can all agree they are overpriced, at least to an extent. So... Really what I'd like is maybe a link to some technical analysis that compares some Monster interconnect to a "cheaper" model. Thanks.

[Ray Garrison]

As you can tell by the large number of replies, you're probably not going to get a reference to a technical analysis. I've seen a couple of printed formal tests of speaker cables, but not interconnects.

As far as whether cable A is better than cable B, or whether it's even *POSSIBLE* for cable A to sound *DIFFERENT* than cable B (assuming they're both competently designed and built), well, wide range of opinions. People who don't believe different interconnects sound different will tell you that Monster is over priced hype and basic Radio Shack wire is every bit as good. People who believe wires do sound different tend to view Monster as kind of the Bose of cables - hack engineering with most money going to marketing.

You might try poking about The Cable Company website at fatwyre.com - in particular, take note of the Tara Labs Zero interconnect that goes for $12,800 for .5 meter (18 inches). I sure hope is sounds really, really good.

[Puma Man]

You might try poking about The Cable Company website at fatwyre.com - in particular, take note of the Tara Labs Zero interconnect that goes for $12,800 for .5 meter (18 inches). I sure hope is sounds really, really good.

Jeez O Flip! When you spend $12,800 on a short run of cables, your "hobby" has become an irrational obsession.

[D-MAN]

Ray said it best... he gives a well-reasoned explanation.

Here's my opinion based on personal experience, for what its worth...

There is alot of hype and overpriced stuff out there, it doesn't matter whether its an turntable, amp, or cables or whatever.

The controversy in cables seems to come from the engineering crowd who have been taught that there is no measurable difference in wires. For electronics design work, this is probably true, but when listening to a quality audio system capable of reproducing the nuances of any signal such as one would expect with Klipschorns and some good gear, differences in wire types such as copper and silver and other variables such as design and manufacture can be ascertained by ear.

There is a definite difference in interconnects. However the problem is much like that between an buying an ok amp and a really outstanding one, that boils down to price.

Now how much the performance to dollar ratio is really worth is up to you. In the case of interconnects, the improvements are noticable, but not all encompassing. They won't make the gear into something that its not, but they can remove some of the "veiling" that you may not even notice until it is suddenly gone. The worth that you put on that will determine whether the connects in question are "worth" the price. My experience it that once you hear the difference in clarity, you won't be happy without it.

I am a big believer in thinking that interconnects are just as important as the source components in a sound system. I have several thousands tied up in my gear, so connecting them together with cheap-and-cheesy wires means that I'm an even bigger idiot than normal?! Why buy expensive gear just to trash its capabilities with less-than-effective cabling?

I recommend and use SILVER interconnects. Expensive, yes, but not anywhere near what I paid for the gear being connected. Having A/B'd the cables against all comers, and even convincing my most hard-to-please audiophile friends by demonstrating the differences, they too have become sold on the silver interconnect approach. My personal favs are the pure silver Alphacore XLS connects and Kimber RCA for their respective performance at a "reasonable" price point. I tried Monster (ok for video and what I would term "non-critical" listening connects) and AudioQuest coppers of various sorts - pass on the silver AudioQuests, they do not stand up to the favorites listed above and they cost more to boot!

As an added note, for longer runs, I do not use silver; basically I use silver on the shortest possible runs at the critical junctures, between the cd and pre-amp and from the pre-amp to the amp. I don't "waste" silver on my AV or video gear. That's where I have the Monster and AudioQuest copper interconnects.

DM

[Daddy Dee]

You've gotten some pretty good responses here. Even so, I'll toss in my .02. On interconnects, I was pretty skeptical about things I was hearing people say, advertising hype and such. I've been using mostly AR or Monster interconnects from Best Buy. I ordered some high end interconnects from a guy who is well regarded, and even offers a satisfaction guaranteed policy. Return in 30 days, no questions asked refund if desired. At first I was really surprised at how much "different" they sounded. After listening for a while I decided, "different" was not the same thing as "better". To my ears, they were too hot on the high end and sounded over bright. At first it was an interesting difference in listening to the music, but then on a live recording the audience applause sounded all wrong. Like sizzling instead of clapping.

I think there is less difference in speaker cable than in interconnects. PWK thought "wire is wire" and didn't recommend anything different.

The best advice would be to focus on your components, getting the best speakers, amp and source you can. Those other tweaks in terms of interconnects or speaker wire, are just that, tweaks. It is my sincerest belief that most all "audiophiles" who write those hyped reviews, would fail to identify the same things they hype if they were subjected to blind testing.

[Cleve]

I found this article about speaker wire by Roger Russell interesting

http://home.earthlink.net/~rogerr7/wire.htm